Winter Wonderland
by accioweasleys4
Summary: This is a collection for the winter drabble collection challenge. Currently: Katie and Marcus end up going to the Yule Ball together. This is the final chapter of this collection. (New one will be up sometime soon!)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Oh my gosh, I wrote something! Sorry about my absence...I've just been dealing with real life stuff. I hope you enjoy my new collection though. I know I am a huge Oliver Wood/Katie Bell shipper, but Danie presented me an opportunity to write a Marcus/Katie fic and I had to take it. What can I say? I'm a sucker for secret friendships/ relationship ships. Thanks for reading! This was written for the winter drabble collection. I'm not sure if it'll have different pairings or just Marcus/Katie yet. That depends on my muse. I know this is a little longer than a drabble, but I don't care. :) I also used the prompt baby blue. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does.**

* * *

Katie could tell it was snowing one morning even before she could wake up. She could always sense when the first snow fall of the season would arrive, and she knew it would be any day now.

She grinned as she opened the window to watch the snowflakes fall, but this caused her dorm mates to stir. "Why are you up so early? It's cold outside, close the window."

"It's snowing, Angelina!"

"So? That just means practice later will be cold."

Katie frowned at her friend's lack of enthusiasm. She grinned down at the snow and decided to head to the Quidditch Pitch early. Nobody would judge her there.

There was already a good five inches of snow by the time Katie made it down to the field. She soaked in the silence for a moment with a dreamy smile on her face and then sat down. She placed her hands in the snow and smiled. She always loved how fresh the snow was when it first fell.

She closed her eyes and began making a snow angel.

She didn't know how long she was there for. She didn't hear anybody come up, but all of a sudden she heard a voice. "Silly girl, what are you doing?"

Katie opened her eyes and saw the baby blue sky and Marcus Flint kneeling above her. She couldn't remember when they became friends really. They ran into each other in the corridors a few times and they liked to do homework at the same study spots. Nobody knew they were friends. They would have a field day if they knew.

"I'm making a snow angel," she said dreamily as she flapped her arms and legs up and down to demonstrate.

Marcus rolled his eyes. "You're going to get sick and then your quidditch captain will have a fit because you won't be in your best shape."

"I don't care what Oliver says."

"You should. Here, I'll help you up," Marcus held out his hand.

Katie narrowed her eyes. "I'll get up when you make a snow angel."

"Come on, Bell. You're being silly. Slytherin practice will be starting soon."

"So I guess you'll have to chance them seeing us together. What, are you too _pureblood_ to make a snow angel?"

He narrowed his eyes back at her, though it was playful. "No."

Katie's heart warmed at his answer. "Then come on, join me." She patted the snow. Once again she loved the feel of it beneath her fingers.

Marcus sighed and shook his head in amusement before he joined her.

She waited a few moments before speaking. "You're supposed to flap your arms up and down. Otherwise you're just making a police chalk outline for a crime scene."

Marcus laughed and turned toward her. She loved the rare moments when she could make him laugh. "What?"

"Never mind," Katie said impatiently. "Do you know how to make a snow angel?"

"I know how to make a snow angel." Marcus's voice sounded amused, and Katie narrowed her eyes. She didn't like that voice. It sounded like that lately whenever they were together. It sounded as if he had a secret, and she wasn't sure if she liked that.

He started flapping his arms and legs up and down and looked over at her. "Happy now?"

"I don't know… maybe we should add some wings and a halo."

He rolled his eyes. "Now you're pressing your luck." He stood up and held his hand out.

Katie sighed reluctantly and took his hand. It was the first time their hands had touched and she was surprised at how comfortable it felt.

She thought his hand lingered in hers longer than it should've, and she found she didn't want to move.

Marcus let go finally a moment later. "You should go," he said quietly.

Katie felt a twinge of disappointment, though she tried not to let it show. "Yeah…" She nodded and backed away.

"Bye."

"Bye."

She waited a moment longer to see if he would say anything else, but when it was clear he wasn't going to she took off running toward the castle.


	2. Christmas Quidditch

**A/N: I know this was written for the winter drabble collection challenge, but I couldn't think of anything for my prompts. So this was just written for fun as well as for the lovely Danie who got me to ship Marcus/Katie. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Katie was sitting in the bleachers with the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team. They were all half expecting Oliver to give an hour long speech like he did last year, but he surprised them on the last word.

"All right, this is the last practice before Christmas break and we don't have any games until late January…so let's just have some fun."

"Fun?" Fred and George Weasley said together. "Do you know what fun means, Oliver?"

Oliver grinned and revealed a beach ball. "What does this look like?"

"DODGEBALL!" Katie yelled cheerfully as she leaped from her spot. She giggled as she ran forward to grab the ball from Oliver.

"Dodgeball?"

"Oh, come on. Work with me here," she said, rolling her eyes. Harry was the only one who knew how to play the game, but he reluctantly helped her go over the rules with him.

"Why aren't you more excited about this? This is the coolest game next to quidditch," Katie said, nudging Harry.

Harry made a face. "Bad memories…my cousin got the whole class to throw dodgeballs at me for a whole gym period. I wasn't "The Boy Who Lived" at my muggle school."

Katie stared at him before shrugging. "So we'll make some good memories. Come on, you can be on my team."

Harry hesitated before grinning. "All right," he said as they started jogging toward the middle of the field.

Everybody was actually having fun an hour later. Oliver was even grinning as he threw the beach ball in the air, but his smile turned to a frown when Katie caught the ball. "What?" she asked him curiously. Everybody else joined them with displeased expressions on their faces, and Katie turned around.

Her heart did a skip when she saw Marcus Flint standing there… along with the rest of the Slytherin team.

"You call this practice?" Marcus chuckled and the rest of the Slytherin team joined him.

Oliver walked closer and stood protectively next to Katie. "It's called having fun. Something I don't think you know anything about."

"I know how to have fun. I just didn't think that Oliver Wood actually did…you always drive your team to the ground. And now you're…" Marcus made a face at the beach ball as he took it in his hands.

"Playing dodgeball," Katie surprised herself by answering Marcus with a cold tone. She had to remember her place right now.

Marcus's eyes studied her, but his expression didn't change. "Right… well, it's time for you to take your Muggle game elsewhere and let the real professionals play now."

"We were here first." Katie surprised herself again by answering before Oliver did.

Oliver shot an incredulous look at her and nodded. "I booked the field for the whole afternoon, Flint. Do you really want a repeat of last year when this happened?"

Marcus took a step forward. "The question is…do you?"

The two seemed like they were having a staring contest, neither wanted to break eye contact first.

"We'll play for it," Marcus said finally.

"Excuse me?"

"We'll have a scrimmage game. The team who loses has to leave, and the team who wins gets the field for the rest of the day."

"That's ridiculous," Oliver said.

"It's actually a good idea," Katie said before she could stop herself. She couldn't seem to stop surprising herself today.

"You're taking his side?" Oliver asked, motioning to Marcus.

"No…but you have to admit that a scrimmage game is safer than getting into fights over names or throwing up slugs."

She heard a chuckle from Malfoy, and Katie ignored him.

"Fine," Oliver said coldly. "If we win, you will leave us alone too," he told Marcus.

"You have my word." The two shook hands.

Marcus winked at her as they mounted their brooms and Angelina nudged her. "Did Flint just wink at you?"

Katie scoffed. "Absolutely not!" she said coldly. She wanted to throw a smile his way, but she couldn't right now.

The game began and it quickly became violent. The Slytherin team was using moves they knew wouldn't be allowed otherwise.

Katie dodged a bludger being thrown her way and caught the quaffle in her arm. She flew around a Slytherin Chaser and made a goal. Fred flew by her side and gave her a high five.

Marcus was hanging around with another fifth year chaser, though she thought she saw a hint of a small smile play on his lips. She had to be careful not to act like she noticed, though her heart danced at the smile.

"We need to take Bell out," she heard Montague say to Marcus.

Oliver narrowed his eyes and he started to fly forward, but Katie held a hand out to stop him. She didn't want another fight between the two captains.

"No," she heard Marcus say.

Katie stopped flying around, surprised.

"Why not?" the boy argued.

"I'm the captain, that's why. Don't even thinking about laying a hand on Bell."

Katie grew suspicious. They were friends, but why was Marcus acting protective over her? He shouldn't be acting like this. She had to say something before he blew their cover.

"Thanks, Flint, but I can take care of myself."

Marcus's eyes widened when he realized she had actually spoken to him in public. "I wasn't implying you couldn't," he said coldly.

"Good. I don't need a knight in shining armor." Katie hadn't meant to use those choice of words, but a flicker of emotion flashed in his eyes. It gave Katie another reason to wonder what secret he was hiding from her lately.

"Fine," he muttered angrily. He flew off to the other side of the field, and Katie sighed. She hoped he wasn't really angry with her, but it was hard to tell with him sometimes. He had to know that she was trying to keep their friendship a secret, right? That had been what he wanted.

Oliver was suddenly next to her. "You ok?" he asked, placing a hand over her shoulder. "Yeah," she said quietly.

"Don't let them get to you. We won't let them hurt you."

"I'm not worried," Katie lied. She was worried, but not about being hurt. What was going on with Marcus?

She was about to score another goal when a Bludger hit her hard on the arm. She winced in pain as she felt her arm snap.

"Katie!" Marcus was the closest person nearby and he flew to her side immediately. "Are you ok?" He reached for her arm to examine it, and she shook her head.

"My arm…I think it's broken." Tears rolled down her cheeks and she rested her head on his shoulder and immediately pulled back. She expected Marcus to be furious with her for doing that, but instead he was throwing his chaser a furious look.

"Katie!" George and Fred appeared next to her. They gave Marcus a curious look, but he flew off before they could say anything.

"Marcus didn't do anything," she said quickly.

"We know. He started yelling at his friend, it was so strange really. He normally is in favor for his players to attack us-"

WHAM!

Their heads whipped around in surprise when they saw Marcus scowling. He had apparently hit Montague with a beater's bat.

"I thought I told you to leave Bell alone," they heard Marcus say as he tried pushing Montague off the broom. Adrian Pucey had to pull him off in order to leave him alone.

Harry had caught the Snitch in the midst of all the chaos, causing them to win the game.

"Come on, let's take you to the hospital wing," George said as they flew toward the ground. Katie nodded as she rested her head against his shoulder.

She peered around his shoulder to look for Marcus, but he had already walked off the field furiously.

She was at the hospital wing getting a huge lecture from Madam Pomfrey. "An unofficial scrimmage match? That's unheard of. What if one of you died?"

She sighed as she healed Katie's arm. "You got lucky this time. Now go, I don't want there to be any more quidditch injuries.

Katie walked out of the hospital wing and nearly ran over Marcus. She stumbled and he caught her by grabbing her arms. "Are you ok?" he asked, looking down into her eyes.

"Yeah, it was just a broken arm. I've got a nasty bruise though." Marcus cursed when he looked at it.

"I'm sorry, Katie. I told them not to go after you-"

"I know. I'm sorry I got close to you like that earlier. My arm was just in so much pain…"

"Its fine," Marcus said, cutting her off with a hug. When he pulled away he held out a yellow daisy.

"What's this?" Katie asked as she stared at it suspiciously.

"It's a bomb in disguise," Marcus said sarcastically. "It's a flower, silly."

"But…why are you giving me a flower?"

"Am I supposed to have a reason?" he questioned her.

"Guys usually do."

"I'm just… glad you're ok. I also want to be pen pals over break. Is that ok with you?"

Katie was about to answer when George came around the corner. He stopped suddenly when he saw the two of them together. Katie quickly hid the flower behind her back and hoped he hadn't seen it.

"I'll see you around, Bell." Marcus nodded to her and then to George.

George's eyes narrowed skeptically as Marcus walked past him. "You ok?"

"Never better," Katie said, having trouble keeping her smile to herself.


	3. Two Can Keep a Secret

**A/N: You guys are lucky... you're getting two chapters from me in one week! This is written for the lovely Danie again since I can't use a prompt for the actual Winter Drabble Challenge. I had fun writing this chapter too. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

Katie was sitting in Charms one day when she decided to write a note to Marcus. He had finally finished Hogwarts, but she missed him and they remained pen pals. George had given her a charmed parchment where she could write to the receiver quickly and they could respond back right away. He wanted it tested out, and she agreed to be the first tester.

 **Hey you,** she wrote with a smile.

 _Katie? Woah, this thing is weird._

Katie giggled and looked around. She didn't want to get caught writing these notes in class.

 **Yeah, but it's sort of like talking face to face, isn't it?**

 _Not even close. I miss you._

Her breath caught in her throat as she read those words. She wondered what he really meant by those words.

 **I…** She couldn't write that she missed him too. **What's new?** She sighed. Why couldn't she write what she really felt?

 _Nothing really, just going to different try outs and stuff. I hear there's a Yule Ball coming up._

 _I bet you're breaking lots of hearts, aren't you?_

Katie blushed and looked around. **One heart….George Weasley asked me to the dance.**

 _Oh? And what did you say?_

 **Why are you so interested?**

 ** _…_** _Because you're my friend._

 **I said no.**

 _Why?_

Katie paused. Could she tell him the truth?

 **He…he wasn't who I had in mind. I like someone else.**

 _Well….maybe that someone else would like to go with you too. He thinks you'd look pretty in a dress. He'd be honored to be your date._

Katie's eyes widened as she stared at his words. How did he know? How did he know?

"Katie!" Angelina gave her a curious look. "You look like you're…are you ok?"

Katie pushed back her desk. "No….I have to go." She rushed out of the Charms classroom and ran off before Angelina could say another word.

* * *

She managed to avoid Angelina the next day, but at lunch time the Gryffindor Quidditch team met at a table. "Oliver's meeting us at Hogsmeade today."

"Really?" Katie groaned to herself. She had forgotten about that.

"Are you going to tell me about-"

"No. We're already late," Katie said as they headed out the Great Hall and started walking towards Hogsmeade.

The two friends met up with everybody at Three Broomsticks and Angelina and Katie both hugged Oliver tightly. "How'd your first game go?" Katie asked Oliver right away.

"I didn't get to play…I'm just a reserved player." There was a slight note of disappointment in his tone that Katie recognized and she nudged him.

"Oh, come on. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're on your dream team! I bet you'll be playing Keeper really soon."

"Yeah," Oliver said, as he looked around. "So…Harry, nice job with that dragon. I heard you flew wickedly."

Harry's face turned red and he nodded. "Thanks…that's nothing now. I have to ask a girl out to the Yule Ball now. It's a tradition."

"There's a ball?" Oliver looked interested. "Who're you asking?"

Harry pretended to look interested in his butterbeer. "I… haven't asked anybody yet."

Fred shook his head and tsked. "I keep telling him he'd better get a move on, or all the good ones will be taken." He slipped an arm over Angelina's shoulders. "I asked Angelina," he said proudly.

"What?" Oliver shook his head in shock. He looked over at George. "Who're you going with?"

George's face turned red and he shrugged. "I…er…asked Katie to go with me."

Oliver's eyes grew bigger and he looked at Katie in surprise. Katie had to look away awkwardly as Angelina gave her a pointed look. "And?" Oliver prompted after a second.

Katie wanted to be far away from here now. She wanted to hide her face in embarrassment. She felt like a jerk because of how glum George looked. He was a sweet guy, really. He just wasn't the one who made her heart pound.

Marcus was. The startled realization almost made her fall off the chair, and she had to grip on the table from falling. George was avoiding making eye contact, and the group grew quiet.

Katie hadn't noticed that she had dropped something until Oliver looked down. She didn't even notice a note had fallen out of her pocket until he reached down and picked it up. His eyes caught notice of the note's content, and her heart flipped. Oh, no. It was Marcus's note, she thought frantically to herself.

"Excuse us for a moment…I need to have a private word with Katie," Oliver said as he pulled her off the stool.

The rest of the group stared at the two in silence as Oliver dragged Katie out of Three Broomsticks. "Oliver!" Katie said as she tried to pull her arm away. "Where are we going?"

"Believe me, you don't want us to be overheard," Oliver said quietly.

They didn't stop walking until they were at the Shrieking Shack. "Really? We're going to talk about this here?" she asked as she looked at the building. At least they didn't really have much of a chance of being overheard.

"Yes," Oliver said as he turned around to face her. He held up the note and then crossed his arms. "Can you tell me why on earth Marcus Flint is writing to you? I'm not, dumb, I know his handwriting. Why on earth would you turn down George Weasley for him?"

"I-" Katie sighed as she sat down. "We should sit down….we need to talk."

* * *

 **A/N: To be continued! :)**


	4. Secret's Out

**A/N: This is dedicated to the lovely Danie because she got me to ship Marcus/Katie. And I had this sitting in a file for forever and am just now posting it...two years later. Sorry. And this isn't really just a drabble collection anymore, I guess. Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

They didn't stop walking until they were at the Shrieking Shack. "Really? We're going to talk about this here?" she asked as she looked at the building. At least they didn't really have much of a chance of being overheard.

"Yes," Oliver said as he turned around to face her. He held up the note and then crossed his arms. "Can you tell me why on earth Marcus Flint is writing to you? I'm not, dumb, I know his handwriting. Why on earth would you turn down George Weasley for him?"

"I-" Katie sighed as she sat down. "We should sit down….we need to talk."

* * *

Oliver gave Katie a wary look, but he sat down in the snow and gave her an intense look. He brought his knees to his chin, and she crossed her legs. She did miss having Oliver in her life like this. He was one of her good friends, and was very much like a brother to her.

"How'd you know Marcus was writing back to me?" She asked quietly.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Marcus sat next to me in Potions. I recognized it right away after sitting next to him for several years. Now answer me this…are you two _dating?"_ He asked the question sharply, and that caused Katie to wince at first.

"No," she answered quietly. She really didn't want to have this talk, but she supposed it was better to have it with Oliver than Angelina or anybody else first.

Oliver regarded her with an appraising look on his face. "But you _like_ him," he clarified in the same sharp tone.

"Stop using that tone!" Katie cried, standing up. "You're making this more difficult than it is and it's already hard enough."

He sighed and looked up at her. "All right…I'm sorry. I'll stop using that tone. Can you still talk to me like before though?"

"I'll try," she said as she sat back down. "Marcus and I haven't been dating. He's just been a good friend since my second year. He always helped me out of rough paths with the other Slytherins, and we just started talking. I guess he was just always protective of me." Katie shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her hands awkwardly.

"We kept our friendship a secret. I'm not really sure why. He stopped being ashamed of me a long time ago…but he always seemed like he had a secret that he was trying to hide from me. I didn't pick up on it until the past year."

Oliver opened his mouth to say something furiously, but thought better of it and closed it again. He looked away and cleared his throat before saying, "How often did you see each other?"

Katie shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't count how many encounters she had had with Marcus Flint. "We'd see each other whenever we could. Sometimes it wasn't planned. We'd see each other before quidditch practice, or afterwards. Sometimes we'd stay behind from Hogsmeade trips to see each other when our friends wouldn't be around. We'd just go to the library and study sometimes. He has stuck up for me a lot in the past," she murmured quietly.

"And it never occurred to you why he was doing that?"

She shook her head. "I just thought he wanted to be my friend."

"You never thought he was using you to get to me?"

Katie scowled. "If he was using me, he would've hurt me a long time ago! Our friendship was never about trying to get to you, or anybody else."

"But Katie, he's a Slytherin. Slytherins generally don't think of anybody but themselves."

"Marcus is different," she said fiercely.

Oliver stared at her for several moments before speaking again. "You like him," he murmured quietly.

"We're just friends," Katie said, though her heart raced at the possibility of them being more.

"Oh, merlin. I like him. What am I going to do?" Katie buried her head into her knees.

She felt Oliver kneel down beside her and he lifted her chin. "You're going to write him back. And invite him to the ball."

"I'm scared," she protested.

"There's always going to be things in life that scare you. You shouldn't be afraid of falling in love though. I'll be with you while you write to him if you want."

Katie hesitated for a moment and nodded. "Please…stay." She felt like a child asking her crush to the ball, but she really didn't think she could take the first step by herself. She took a deep breath and reread Marcus's last words he wrote to her.

 _Well….maybe that someone else would like to go with you too. He thinks you'd look pretty in a dress. He'd be honored to be your date._

 **You're charming,** Katie wrote with a smile. It was nice how easy this flow came back to her.

 _You're back! I was hoping I didn't scare you off._

Her eyes met Oliver's and he nudged her. Go on, he seemed to be saying.

 **No, you didn't. Marcus….will you be my date to the Yule Ball?**

She held her breath, and Oliver wrapped his hand around hers while they waited for his response.

 _I thought you'd never ask._

"He likes you," Oliver sang uncharacteristically.

"Stop," Katie said, laughing lightly.

"He likes you. But if he hurts you, I'll have to hurt him. In fact-" He stole the piece of paper and began writing.

"Oliver!"

 **Flint. This is Wood here. You have my permission to date Katie, but if you hurt her you'll have me to answer to. Understood?**

 _Wood. I didn't realize I had to have your permission to ask her, but I have no intentions of hurting her. I'll kick any of my friends who try to hurt her instead._

Katie almost didn't care about the exchange between Oliver and Marcus, her heart felt like it was flying. She actually had a date with Marcus Flint!

Marcus Flint actually liked her!


	5. The finale chapter

**A/N: I actually had this written way back in April, but I was too busy or tried to be a perfectionist about this. Well, I am trying to stop being such a perfectionist when it comes to writing. And this is going to be the last chapter of this collection. This was originally for a challenge Dani made up, but I'm going to start another collection for these two because they are my second OTP now. I now understand why people have multiple OTP's! I love this pair so much for some reason. This is dedicated to the lovely Danie since she got me to ship these two. Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does.**

* * *

A few days later Katie was getting ready for the ball. Marcus and Katie had written a few more times, but she could tell he was wanting to save most of their time together in person. She did her hair and make up with the rest of the girls in a blur. She could barely even remember putting on her dress.

Alicia and Angelina finished touching up their makeup at the same time and they finally turned to Katie.

"Are you going to tell us who your date is now? Oliver made us promise we wouldn't kill you. I still can't believe he knew before me," Angelina complained.

"He figured it out," Katie said defensively. She decided to cut to the chase. "It's Marcus."

Both of the girls eyes grew wide. "As in….Flint?"

Katie's face expression softened at his name, even though it was his last name. "Yes. Look…he's been there for me a lot. He's pretty much the reason why the Slytherins didn't bully me that much. He stuck up for me and we became friends. Don't make a big deal out of this. He's a decent guy."

Angelina and Alicia opened their mouths to protest, but they stopped themselves and exchanged looks again. "Ok… but if he hurts you-"

"You'll kill him. But he doesn't have any intentions of hurting me. So give him a chance. Please? And make sure your date doesn't kill him," she said quickly, nodding towards Angelina.

"I'll keep Fred busy," Angelina said dryly.

They finally made their way downstairs and Katie immediately started looking for Marcus. She spotted him at the bottom of the staircase, and she had to stop walking. Her heart had done some summersaults.

She beamed as she approached him, but she couldn't say a word because of how nervous she was.

* * *

 **Marcus's pov**

Marcus couldn't believe he was back at Hogwarts again. He never thought he'd actually be here again. It was different this time though with students from other schools roaming about everywhere.

Viktor Krum was actually the only Durmstrang student who acknowledged him, though Marcus didn't really care to fawn over him. He wasn't really much for celebrities.

His eyes suddenly caught Katie approaching him. She was wearing a beautiful peach colored gown that seemed to agree with her perfectly, though she could've been wearing anything and he still would've thought she was beautiful.

"Hey beautiful," he murmured after a few moments of silence.

"Hey, handsome," She laughed lightly and the sound made his heart dance. He was about to give her a flower he brought her, but she surprised him when she moved close to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Marcus closed his eyes as he hugged her back.

He didn't have anything to worry about. Nobody would tell him otherwise.

He caught Malfoy's incredulous look, but Marcus shot him a warning look and he disappeared with his date.

A few moments later, the champions started dancing and the teachers joined a few moments after. Marcus grinned at Katie and held out his hand. "Want to dance?"

"That is what we are here for," she joked. "I have to warn you that I'm pretty bad."

"No, you can't be that bad."

"I am," Katie admitted honestly.

"Just follow my lead then."

They danced to slow songs, and then fast songs and Katie was surprised that Marcus could actually really dance. Fred and George only glared at him once, and he seemed to have fit in with her friends easily. She was glad there were no punches thrown yet.

Marcus suddenly pulled her off to the side. "You want to go for a walk?"

Katie hesitated and looked back at Angelina. She was dancing wildly with Fred, but she suddenly caught Katie's eyes and nodded as if she knew what she was asking.

"All right," Katie said shyly.

Marcus gave her a secretive smile, and her heart suddenly danced. Had that smile been for _her_ all along?

He held out his hand and she took it, not caring that she was gaining stares from the Slytherin crowd especially. "I'll protect you from them," he said, winking at her.

"I never needed a knight in shining armor," Katie answered quickly.

"I know." Her heart did another flip as she noticed the change in his tone. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her outside.

They stopped outside near a water fountain and Katie couldn't help but shiver. It was a bit colder than she expected out here.

"Here," Marcus said suddenly as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "You need this more than me."

Katie's heart melted for the thousandth time that night. "You're so…different than what I ever expected," she said softly.

"Yeah?" he asked, nudging her lightly.

"Yeah," she answered, meeting his eyes. "I never thought you'd be this decent guy, but you are. You've proven that more times than I can count."

"Well, I just didn't think it was right for the rest of the guys to pick on somebody that wasn't their size," Marcus answered, laughing nervously.

Katie stepped forward and placed a hand on his cheek. Her eyes widened at the bold moment. "I'm sorry," she said, but he stopped her hand from moving.

"Don't be sorry," Marcus said softly.

Katie swallowed nervously. He was much, much too close this time.

"Katie…will you be my girlfriend?"

Her eyes widened at the question. She wasn't expecting that question.

"Wh…what? But…we hardly know each other!"

"I do," Marcus said. "I do know you. I know you like to build snow angles when none of your other team mates will join you on a snowy day. I know which class is your least favorite, I know how you like your hot chocolate, I know your favorite color…and I know you're loyal to your friends. There's stuff I don't know about you, but I was hoping that would change."

"We're also ages apart!"

"I'm the same age Oliver is, and he's your best friend," Marcus said gently.

"I'm a Gryffindor and you're a Slytherin…..," Katie said.

His eyes hardened slightly at that one. "Do you honestly think I care about that after all that time? Do you? Because I don't remember the last time that even mattered to me. I just...I've liked you for a long time. And I thought you did too. But-"

"I do," Katie said, stopping him from backing away. "I'm just…surprised, that's all."

"Really? After all the hints I've given you lately?" Marcus shook his head in disbelief.

"Katie…" His lips suddenly brushed against hers. Katie was surprised by how warm, and soft they were. She also was surprised when she actually wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. And he kissed her passionately, and it deepened some more….she pulled away from him slightly.

"I think this means yes?" Marcus asked her quietly.

"Yes," Katie murmured finally after a moment.

Marcus suddenly straightened up when someone approached them. "Hello, Professor Snape!"

"Evening, Mr. Flint." Professor Snape's dark eyes narrowed skeptically at the two. "Marcus…I know you aren't a student anymore, and I don't have any authority over you anymore. But Ms. Bell is still a student. I think you two should return back inside before she gets into any trouble. It is almost curfew after all."

"Right, yes sir. We were heading that way," Marcus said, nodding.

Katie stared at Professor Snape in awe as he walked away and turned back to Marcus. "All right, if you weren't a former Slytherin student he would've given me a detention on the spot for being here," she said, shaking her head.

Marcus chuckled. "Well…. Yeah. He hates Gryffindor's. With good reason too." He gave her a playful wink and then pulled her in sideways to place a kiss on her forehead before she could protest.

"Who knew dating you would have some advantages? You're like my personal get out of jail free card." She twirled and wrapped a hand in his.

"Get out of… what?"

Katie rolled his eyes at him. "Azkaban. You're like my get out of Azkaban free card. Jail is for Muggles. And that was a Muggle game reference."

"You're silly," Marcus said, shaking his head.

"But if I'm to keep you out of Azkaban we should head back to the dance."

"Do we have to?" Katie said as she mock pouted. "I mean…I haven't seen you in forever. And the dance is so loud. Can't we find some…empty, dark corridor and snog?"

Marcus's eyes widened at the end of her sentence. "You're a troublemaker, Bell," he murmured softly, wanting nothing more than to do the very thing she mentioned.

"I'm a Gryffindor. We're supposed to be bold and brave." She gave him a seductive look as she pulled him closer toward her. "Now the question is…Does a smart, cunning Slytherin want to be bold and brave like me?"

"I do," Marcus murmured huskily.

A thousand thoughts seemed to be going though her mind then but she smiled and nodded. "I was hoping you would," she said as she started leading the way.


End file.
